Rope whipping sewing machine



Feb. 3, 1948. P. TLMcLENDON 2,435,457

ROPE WHIPPING SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. film/P 7.7 1els/vpo/v ATTORNEY 'Feb. 3, 1948. P. T. McLENDON ROPE WHIPPING SEWING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Feb. 4, 1944 INVENTOR. v 6 9/; /P 7.71/6 Lsvpa/v ATTUHVEY Feb. 3, 1948. P. T. MCLENDON 2,435,457 I ROPE WHIPPING SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet s .sr/wm/g 5w 57/7672 a- A/EEfiLE INVENTOR. f2; 27/01 5/1/00 Feb. 1948- P. T. MCLENDON 2,435,457

ROPE WHIP'PING SEWING MACHINE Filed Feb. 4, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. fif/L/P [4/6 [EA DON ATTURJSQZ' Patented Feb. 3, 1 948 ROPE WHIPPING SEWING MACHINE Philip T. McLendon, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to V Union Special Machine Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application February 4, 1944, Serial No. 521,057

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and means for whipping the ends of rope and the like to prevent untwisting and raveling of the strands thereof. It relates also to the product of such method.

Heretofore, in finishing off the free ends of ropes such as used in connection with tents, tarpaulins, flags, sails and the like, it has been a common practice to wrap cords or other types of filament about the ends to prevent the fraying and ravelin of the same. This prior whipping method, however, has been relatively slow and expensive, and has not been altogether satisfactory. The wrapping cord has a tendency to break or wear through at some point and then become quickly unwound and stripped from the end of the rope. When the rope end is thus unprotected, the untwisting and raveling process soon begins.

A primary object of the present invention has been to provide a method of and machine for so stitching the end of a rope that it will remain more or less permanently protected against untwisting and raveling in spite of any rough usage to which it may be subjected.

Another object has been to provide an improved form of whipping or similar protection for rope ends which i simple, reliable and inexpensive, and which may be speedily applied to the rope ends in large scale production.

A further object has been to provide a method and machine, of the character above indicated,

capable of producing the improved form of whipping rapidly and in an economical manner, without special skill.

. Toward the foregoing ends the invention contemplates the formation of a series of stitches through the end of the rope, these stitches being preferably of the two-thread lock stitch type. The stitching in the preferred form of the invention is arranged to extend in a generally spiral or helical direction about the rope end, the needle upon each stitching operation being arranged to pass through the rope at a point spaced circumferentially of the rope and advanced slightly axially in relation to the preceding stitch- Moreover, the threads forming the stitches are preferably arranged to pass through the rope along lines transverse to the axis of the rope end but spaced som distance from such axis. Thus the stitching threads extend through the rope along chords of its circular cross-section, preferably about midway between the axis and the periphery of the rope-end.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from a detailed description of certain illustrative forms of the same, which will now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. I is a view in side elevation of the needle head and associated devices forming part of the improved machine constructed in accordance with the invention. I

Fig. IIis an end elevation of the machine with the cover plate of the needle'head removed and with certain parts broken away and-shown in section.

Fig. III is a schematic view on a greatly enlarged scale illustrating the arrangement of stitching through a section'of the rope end, the stitches being shown larger and more widely spaced than in actual practice.

Fig. IV is a view similar to Fig. 111 but showing a fewer number of stitches to each turn about the rope for clarity of illustration.

Fig. V is an exploded perspective View of the presser foot, throat plate and feed dog of the improved machine; and

Fig. VI is a side view of a rope stitched in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings, the invention has been illustrated as applied to a fiat bed sewing machine of the lock stitch type, such as shown in the patent to Norman V, Christensen et al., No. 2,113,572, granted April 12-, 1938. It will be understood that the invention is applicable, however, to a variety of other types of sewing machine.

The illustrative machine is provided with a base [0, a. vertical standard I l and a horizontally extending overhanging arm I2 carrying at its end a needle head 13. Power may be applied to the machine in the manner indicated in said Christensen et a1. patent 'to drive a main shaft M (Fig. II) which extends longitudinally of the arm I2 into the needle head. Suitable crank means provided in the needle head serves to cause vertical reciprocation of'a needle bar l5 mounted in bearings in the needle head. At its lower end the needle bar carries, a needle [6 arranged to be reciprocated upon each cy cleof operation of the machine to carry the needle thread Ilia (Fig. I)

through the work into cooperation with the complemental stitch-forming means. The latter, as illustrated in Fig. II, may suitably be in the form of a rotary hook' i1 driven by suitable connections extending from the shaft l4 through the standard I l and the base .I D in the manner disclosed in said Christensen et al. patent. Also driven by suitable connections from the shaft I4 is a feed dog 18 of the four motion type carried by a feed bar l9 pivotally supported at its end upon a rocker 2U.

upper end engagedwitha crankpin at the end of a main operating shaft (not shown) within the base, all in the manner disclosed in said Christ; ensen et al. patent. Any suitable means, such as that disclosed in said patent, may beprovidediorvarying the length of the feed stroke.

Cooperating with the feed dog isa presser foot 22, the shank 23 of which is detachably' mounted upon the lower end of a presser bar 24. The latter is mounted for vertical..movern,entin suit able bearings in the needle headand is normally r v urged downwardly by means of a spring 25acting at its upper end againstran adjustable sleeve 26 and at its lower end against .a, b1ock;2'l (secured. to. the presser :bar. Any suitablesmeans such as a lever 28 adapted to-.be-operated:b.y1 a. link 29. connected with, a. foot treadle; or knee-operated control, may. be. provided for .lifting the presser' 28 is connected for this purpose bymeansof a link30with a sleeve. 3i's1idablymounted on the presserbar. I Ahandoperated lever 31a. may also be providedior lifting .thessleeve 3| and hence the presser bar 24.

As shown, in Figs. IIand V, the presser foot 22 is provided witha substantially semi-cylindrical groove or .recess .3Zfin 'its. under surface which is, adapted tosnugly-receiveithe end of the rope to be whipped. Duetothe pressure of the presser barspring 25, the rope may-be deformed slightly fromitsnormally circular contour into the elliptical contour illustratedin Fig. II. 'A needlepassage 33 is provided through the presser foot to guideand permit .thefree movement of the needle therethrough. This passage, as shown in Fig. II, is disposed forwardly of thevertical center line of the grooveor recess 3-2. Thus the stitching produced upon the-reciprocation of the need-le willpass through the rope-along a linesomewhat removed from itsiaxis, 1;. e., the line of action of theneedle constitutes achord rather-than a di ameter of the cross section: "through the rope being stitched. Preferably the line of action oithe needlein relationto the rope holding means is such that the needle substantiallybisects the horizontal radius of l the rope; This ofi-center actionof the needle will 'not,'however, cause'rota-f tion of the rope due to the frictional resistance of the presser foot and the-throat plate.

In the opera'tionof the machine, the presser foot will be lifted, by rocking thelever 28 in the manner explained, to permit introduction of the end of-a rope properly within'the groove orre'cess 32'. The presserfoot may then be lowered and themachine set in operation. Between'the suc' cessive stitches, the feed'dog i8 will be'operated" to rotate therope through a'desired angular distance to providethe desired'length of stitch. At the-same time, the operator will exert a slight pushing or pulling force upon the end of the rope to causeit to advance gradually in an axial direction along*t-he groove'32. V In this way the spiral or'hel'ical effectin-dicated in Fi'g. VI'is providedg' Upon completionfof the stitching the presser foot is again raised, he threads cut or broken and a new end or ropeiis; inserted. Thisoperation may be carried but-rejpeatdlyat high speed. 1

. Referring .now'to'Figs. IIIa-nd the form of the stitching provided in the rope end by the operation described is schematically illustrated on an enlarged scale. As indicated, the stitchforming means and the thread take-up devices of the machine are preferably so' adjusted that the needle loops l6b will be drawn inwardly into the rope and the bobbinthread loops l'lb will be similarly drawninto the rope so thatthe points of interen'gagement of these loops are spaced 1 substantially midway between the ends of the *c'o'rd along which the needle passes through the :ropein forming .a stitch. The. drawing of the interlocked loops of the two threads into the interior oi the rope his way is accomplished by BTprope-r ad iltmrit and operation of a thread.

tensioningdevi 4'" and a take-up arm 35 con- .ts gcllcdj sllfi-iltzo-ftljieiicrank which operates the needlegbar. This construction is more fully described-in said Christensen et a1. patent and in the patent to Nelson 2,077,151, granted April 13, 193373. TLBriefly,the fneedle-lthreadl 6ar passes 'from asource of-supplyitoa'guide 3 1, thence between the discs'ofztheitensioning .device- 34 over a check wire 3 8, .under a ithreadcontrolling guide 39 car ried by the presser bar, thence through aneyelet= bar whenever'desired. .The feed endoflthe lever in. then-arm 35 d0wn 'to:-the needle.- The stitch setting 'action takes place on -the upward r-novementof the; arm-'35 and is such astoproducetheresult indicated; .i Itissatisfactory so long as the 30 loopedand interlocked portionsof both the needle; thread and' the 'bobbin thread are drawn into the bodyzofthe rope anddo notremain on itssurface. Inv this-wayundueroughening-of the surfac'e'o'f the ropewill be avoided. Moreover, thedangen of'breakageof the'loopsis reduced-tea minimum.

Butinany' event as will'be apparent, the break ing-or wearing through of any length of either theneedle thread or the bobbin thread which lies aroundthe circumference ofthe rope-will,

(0- not distu-rb-any-of theren'lain-i'ng stitching. Each stitch isretained by its frictional engagement with the rope-in passi-ng through the same and there is no danger of'ravelingof the whipped" formation at the end of the rope'on the mere severing of the threads *at a few points.

- It willbeunderstood-that Figs. III and IV'aregreatly magnified andare simply schematic for the purpose-of indicatingthe form of the stitching. Whereas abouteight stitches are shownaround the'circumference of'the-ropein Fig. III, I

and only about fivestitches are shown around the circumference in- Fig. IV, itwill' be under-: stood that in 'the normal practice of the inven-'- tion a greater number of stitches willbeprovided.

-- Ina rope of half-inch diameter;b'etween fifteen,

andtwentyl stitches'jmay*be provided' around the rope in one revolution of the latter; In pro d'uq-f ing the direct-illustrated in Fig. the needle thread i617 willbe-first carried into the 'ropejatj 00:- the point; by the downward movement of the needle, the point of which willipass completely. throught he rope and emerge atthe point 411;. The IOODOffthG needle thread which is formed? below the throat-aplate at the beginning of thei' 05 upstroke:ot theneedle Wi'll thllib engagedybyf the rotary hook so1t'hat' the bobbin thread l'lb willin eifect be passed'through'theineedle loop;

As the needlegis now drawn upwardly out of the;

I rope, the stitch. setting. operation, above de-f scribed, takes place with the resultjthat the inter v lockedportions' ofthe needle thread and bobbin,

thread are drawn into the interior o'f the rope. .j At or about the same time, the feed dogfbecome's" ate' theop s i htly n ine; he neirtstitchpointw-i in lihe'with the needle. "The" I eifective to;

ar as:

same operation is then repeated as many times" as required to produce the helical stitching 43 (Fig. VI) forming the desired whipping at the end of the rope. The presser bar is then lifted, asindicated above, and the threads are cut to release the rope end. A new rope end is then inserted in place and the operation is repeated.

The nature and disposition of the stitching within and around the rope is preferably such that each stitch passes through and binds together Several of the strands of which the rope is formed. This insures the maintenance of the proper, twisted relation between the several strands,

The improved machine may be readily adapted for the handling of ropes of widely different size and characteristics. Ropes of slightly different diameter may be stitched with the same presser foot, but if it is desired to stitch ropes of substantially diiferent diameters at different times, it is best to employ diiferent presser feet, each having a groove 32 more nearly conforming with the outer contour of the rope being stitched at a particular time. It is a relatively simple matter to change from one size or form of presser foot to another by simply loosening the screw 44 (Fig. II). So also, it may be desirable to vary the pressure of the spring 25 in accordance with the character of the rope bein stitched. This is accomplished by simply turning the knurled head 45 of the adjustable sleeve 25. For a relatively soft rope, a comparatively light pressure should be provided to avoid undue distortion of the rope. For a harder rope, a greater pressure is desirable to insure the proper feeding action and to prevent undesired rotation of the rope due to the off-center line of action of the needle. In dealing with softer types of rope, it is also desirable to provide the feed dog with flat surfaces 46 at the ends of the toothed projections, these fiat surfaces being adapted to engage the under surface of the presser foot as the feed dog is lifted to perform its feeding action. The extent of compression and distortion of the rope may thus be definitely limited.

While an illustrative form of the invention has been described in considerable detail, it will be understood that numerous changes may be made, in the various steps to be followed and in the construction and arrangement of the several parts of the machine and in the specific form of the resulting product, without departing from the general principles and scope of the invention. The terms and expressions used herein have been used as terms of description and not of limitation.

l/Vhat I claim is:

1. A machine for securing ends of rope against raveling or untwisting, comprising rope end holding means, devices cooperating with said holding means for imparting intermittent rotation to a rope end held by said means, said devices including a feed dog disposed below said holding means and movable in a direction transverse to the axis of the rope end and adapted to engage and rotate the rope end upon such movement, and stitch forming devices comprising a reciprocable needle-carrying needle bar at one side of said rope end holding means and complemental stitch forming means at the opposite side of said rope end holding means, said rope holding means being so disposed relative to the path of reciprocation of said needle that said path intersects said rope end between its axis of rotation and its periphery.

2. A machine for securing ends of rope against raveling or untwisting comprising rope end holding means, means disposed below said holding means and cooperating therewith for imparting intermittent rotation to arope end held by said means, said cooperating means having teeth movable in a direction transverse to the axis of the rope and and adapted to engage and rotate the rope end upon such movement, multiple-thread stitch forming devices including a thread-carrying needle reciprocable in a line passing through said rope end between its axis of rotation and its periphery, complemental thread-carrying stitch forming means cooperating with said needle, and thread controlling means operative to cause the threads to be interlocked within the body of said rope end.

3. A machine for securing ends of rope against raveling or untwisting, comprising a manually releasable rope end holding means, devices cooperating with said rope end holding means for imparting intermittent rotation to a rope end held by said holding means, said devices including a feed dog disposed below said holding means and thread-carrying stitch forming devices operable to form a succession of stitches in said rope end in timed relation with said rotating means.

4. A machine for securing ends of rope against raveling or untwisting which comprises a rope end holding means, means for imparting stepby-step rotation to a rope end held by said holding means, said rotation imparting means being disposed below said holding means and having teeth movable in a direction transverse to the axis of the rope end and adapted to engage and rotate the rope end upon such movement, devices for varying the extent of each step of rotation imparted by said rotating means, and stitch forming devices constructed and arranged to form a stitch through the body of said rope end during the interval between successive increments of retation imparted to said rope end.

5. A machine for stitching rope ends to prevent raveling or untwisting which comprises a reciprocable needle bar carrying a needle, a presser bar carrying a presser foot arranged to engage the rope end to be stitched, said presser foot havin a transversely extending groove in its under surface to receive the rope end and a needle guide passage intersecting said groove transversely of the axis thereof along a line displaced from said axis, and a feed dog disposed below said presser foot and arranged to engage the rope end held by said presser foot and movable in a direction transverse to the axis of the rope end to rotate the rope end.

6. A machine for stitching rope ends to prevent raveling or untwisting which comprises a reciprocable needle bar carrying a needle, a presser bar carrying a presser foot arranged to engage the rope end to be stitched, said presser foot having a transversely extending groove in its under surface to receive the rope end and a needle guide passage intersecting said groove transversely of the axis thereof along a line displaced from said axis, and a four motion feed dog disposed below said presser foot and arranged to engage the rope end held by said presser foot to rotate the rope end, the four motions of said feed dog being in directions transverse to the axis of the rope end.

PHILIP T. McLENDON.

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